Apparatus for cleaning vessels having an inlet

ABSTRACT

A housing has an outlet and can be mounted on a vessel so that the outlet communicates with the inlet opening of the vessel. The housing accommodates a reel on which a hose is mounted and the hose carries one or more hydrodynamic cleaning devices which can be lowered into and withdrawn out of the vessel by turning of the reel. A valve can close the outlet when the cleaning device is not to be used.

ilnited States atent Hammelmann Feb. 12, 1974 54] APPARATUS FOR CLEANINGVESSELS 3,444,869 5/1969 Guignon 61 al. 134/167 R HAVING AN INLET3,623,910 11/1971 Calhoun 61 al 134/22 R 3,645,452 2/1972 s16661 e161a1134/168 R Paul Hammelmann, Zum Sunderm' l7, Oelde/Westfalen, GermanyFiled: Aug. 22, 1972 Appl. No.: 282,626

lnventor:

Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 27, 1971 Germany 2142978 US. Cl.134/167 R, 134/177 Int. Cl B081) 9/08 Field of Search.... 134/167 R, 168R, 22 R, 24,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1950 Cassin 134/22 R UX PrimaryExaminerRobert L. Bleutge Attorney, Agent, or FirmMichael S. Striker[57] ABSTRACT A housing has an outlet and can be mounted on a vessel sothat the outlet communicates with the inlet opening of the vessel. Thehousing accommodates a reel on which a hose is mounted and the hosecarries one or more hydrodynamic cleaning devices which can be loweredinto and withdrawn out of the vessel by turning of the reel. A valve canclose the outlet when the cleaning device is not to be used.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIENH-IB FEB 1 2 m4 SHEET 3 OF 5PAIENTEDFEB 1 21914 3.791394 SHEET Q {If 5 APPARATUS FOR CLEANINGVESSELS HAVING AN INLET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The presentinvention relates to cleaning devices, and more particularly to anapparatus for cleaning of vessels having an inlet. Still morespecifically the invention relates to an apparatus for the cleaning ofvessels in the chemical industry, the steel industry, the food industryand the like.

In many instances, for instance in the case of autoclaves, spray towers,mixing and agitating vessels and the like, it is necessary to clean theinterior of such a vessel after a charge of material has been removedtherefrom, or after an operation conducted therein has been completed.Heretofore the known cleaning devices have required rather extensivetime periods to carry out this cleaning, requiring that during this timethe vessel be non-productive.

The cleaning devices known from the prior art for the cleaning of suchvessels are separate units which are transported to the vessel when thelatter has been emptied, and are then inserted into the vessel.Subsequently they must be withdrawn from the vessel and transportedaway. Evidently, this is time consuming, requires additional labor and,in many instances, is clumsy in terms of the handling involved.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to overcomethe disadvantages of the prior art.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide animproved apparatus for cleaning of such vessels having an inlet, anapparatus which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages.

Still more particularly it is an object of the present invention toprovide an apparatus of the type under discussion which is simple in itsoperation and most uncomplicated in handling and construction.

In keeping with these objects, and with others which will becomeapparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides, in anapparatus for cleaning of vessels having an inlet, in a combinationwhich comprises a housing having an outlet and being mounted in a vesselso that the outlet communicates with the inlet of the vessel. At leastone cleaning device is provided in the housing, and first means mountsthe cleaning device for movement from the housing and through the outletinto the vessel to be cleaned. Second means is provided for closing theoutlet.

Thus, the interior of the housing can be completely shut off from thevessel when the cleaning device is not in use, so that the vessel can beemployed in any desired manner, including applications in which it mustbe evacuated or in which it must be subjected to internal pressure.

Advantageously, at least one access opening is provided inwardly of theclosure means in the housing of the cleaning apparatus, so as to permitaccess to the cleaning device or devices at all times. This makes itpossible to gain access to the cleaning device while the vessel itselfis in operation, and to make repairs, inspections or adjustments on thecleaning device so that any necessary maintenance on the cleaning devicecan be carried out while the vessel to be cleaned is in operation, andnot while the vessel is empty. This means that any down-time due tomaintenance of the cleaning apparatus itself is avoided because themaintenance can be carried out at such times as the cleaning apparatusis not required to be used.

The cleaning device or devices used in the apparatus according to thepresent invention may be of various different types known per se in theart. For instance, they may be hydrodynamic cleaning devices and may bemounted or carried on a hose which in turn can be reeled onto and off areel which is turnably journalled in the housing. In this constructionit is advantageous if the housing comprises one portion in which thereel is accommodated and another tubular or conduitshaped portion whichextends from the first-mentioned portion to the inlet of the vessel, orto the vicinity thereof, and through which the hose with the cleaningdevice or devices is paid out and reeled in. The tubular orconduit-shaped portion is then connected with the vessel or withcomponents fast with the vessel.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a somewhat diagrammaticside-elevational view of an apparatus according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but seen from the left of FIG. 1looking towards the right, with the heat exchanger of the vessel to becleaned being partially broken away;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating a further embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 illustrating another embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal section through a cleaning device used in FIG.6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now firstly theembodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 it will be seen that for purposes oforientation and better understanding I have illustrated alargedimensioned vessel 1 to be cleaned, for instance a vessel as isused for the manufacture of synthetic plastic materials in industry.Mounted above the vessel 1 is a.

heat-exchange 2 whose particular construction and operation is of noimportance for the invention. The upper cover of the heat-exchanger 2has connected with it a cleaning device according to the presentinvention so that the device is mounted above the heatexchanger 2.

Reference should now be had to FIGS. 3 and 4 where details of thecleaning device of FIGS. 1 and 2 are illustrated on an enlarged scale.It will be seen that the cleaning device has a housing composed of aportion 6 and a tubular or conduit-like portion 19 which extendsdownwardly from the portion 6. The portion accommodates a hose reel 5which is turnably mounted in the housing 6 and may be protected againstthe influence of pressure therein. A motor 7 is provided for rotatingthe reel 5.

A hose 8 can be reeled onto and off the reel and has supplied water toit via a nipple 9 and a nipple 10. The nipple 9 receives water from thewater supply pipe 11 which is shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 and whichin turn receives water from a pump 13 which withdraws it out of areservoir 12. Of course, instead of water another cleaning liquid orcleaning fluid could be employed, but water is mentioned here because inmost instances it will be the cleaning fluid of choice. A knownthree-way valve 14 is interposed in the conduit 11 to permit control ofthe operation, and in one position the valve 14 an evacuation of thevessel 1 is possible as will be discussed later.

The lower end portion 15 of the hose 8 carries the actual cleaning unitwhich in the illustrated embodiment operates with high-pressure water.Evidently, several such units may be provided and they are well known inthe art. They have been illustrated here by way of example in form ofseveral hydrodynamic cleaning units 17, 18 of a construction known perse, mounted at the lower end of a spreadable support 16 which is carriedby the end portion 15 of the hose 8.

The end portion 15, the support 16 and the units 17, 18 can be retractedso as to be located in the tubular housing or casing portion 19 whosecross-sectional configuration may be as desired and which communicatesat its upper end with the housing portion 6.

It has been pointed out before that it has been desirable to permitready access to the units 17, 18 at all times at which they are not inactual use. To permit this the housing portion 19 is provided at itslower end with a transverse conduit portion 20 having lateral tubularsockets 21 and 22 whose openings can be closed by removable covers 23,24. Thus, removal of one or both of the covers 23, 24 permits access tothe units 17, 18 via the sockets 21 or 22.

A socket 25 is provided which is connected via suitable flanges with thehousing portion 19 and another socket 26 is connected with the upperflange 27 of a closure device 28, such as a valve. The purpose of thevalve 28 is, of course, to close the upper opening of the heat-exchanger2 through which the units 17, 18 can be lowered into the vessel 1,pressure tightly if and when desired. In particular this would beeffected when the vessel 1 is in operation, that is at a time when thecleaning units 17, 18 are not required and are retracted into thehousing portion 19. A tube 29 is provided in the region of theheat-exchanger 2 which passes centrally through the same and throughwhich the units 17, 18 can move together with the support 16, into andout of the vessel 1. It is advantageous to provide the cleaningapparatus in the region of the valve 28 with a working platform orcatwalk 30 to permit access to the sockets 21, 22 by personnel requiredto inspect, repair or otherwise maintain the units 17, 18. Of course, itwill be noted that the valve 28 is located downwardly of the sockets 21and 22 so that when it is closed, the interior of the housing portion 19where the units 17, 18 are located, will be strictly shut off from theheat-exchanger 2 and the vessel 1.

In such circumstances where the process to be carried out in the vessel1 requires that the latter be evacuated before a new charge can beadmitted into it, it is advantageous to incorporate in the arrangement awater pressure injector 31 as shown in FIG. 1. When it is desired toevacuate the vessel 1 it is then merely necessary to operate thethree-way valve 14 to place it into the position 14a for evacuatingpurposes. In this case the water which is supplied under pressure by thepump 13 passes via the three-way valve 14 to the injector 31, flowsthrough the same and flows via the gravity pipe 32 back into thereservoir 12, withdrawing air from the vessel 1 via the nipple 33 in sodoing. The operation of such injectors 31 is well-known per se.

Coming to the embodiment in FIG. 5 it will be seen that this differsfrom that of FIGS. 1-4 in that the heatexchanger is designated withreference numeral 2a and is located laterally adjacent the vessel 1,rather than on top of it. The apparatus 3 according to the presentinvention is flanged to the connecting element 34 through which thecleaning unit is inserted into the vessel 1 when the valve or otherclosure device 28 is opened. In other respects the embodiment of FIG. 5does not differ from that of FIGS. 1-4 and will therefore be readilyunderstood without further discussion.

The embodiment in FIGS. 6 and 7 again has a vessel 1 which, however, hasthree cleaning apparatuses 30 associated with it. These differ from-theapparatus 3 insofar as the insertion and removal of the cleaning unit17a is effected by means of a hydraulically driven cylinder and pistonunit 35 which is connected via flange 36 with the upper socket 25 of thetubular conduit portion 20.

The unit 35 has a stationary cylinder 37 an upper end of which isprovided with an end cap 38 to which water under pressure is suppliedvia a nipple 39 by a conduit 40 in which it is moved by a pump. A tube41 is mounted in the end cap 38 and conducts the water under pressureinto a hollow piston rod 42 from which it moves into the cleaning unit17a which again may be a hydrodynamic unit of a construction known perse and is provided with ejection nozzles 43, 44 through the water isejected under high pressure. The piston rod 42 is connected with thepiston 45 which is reciprocably mounted in the cylinder 37.

A control chamber 46 is provided as shown in FIG. 7, and when thiscontrol chamber 46 is open so that water can move out of it, the unit17a moves into the vessel 1 due to a force which develops and actsconstantly in downward direction (in FIG. 7) as a result of thecontinuous supply of water under pressure into the unit 17a. It will benoted that the chamber 46 has an outlet 47 which is in communicationwith the branch conduit 48 of the pipe 40, in which branch conduit 48there is mounted a three-way valve 49 which, when it is in the positiona permits movement of the device into the vessel whereas, when it is inthe position b it permits retraction of the device 170 out of the vesseland into the cleaning apparatus. When the three-way valve is in theposition 17 water under pressure is admitted via the three-way valve 49into the chamber 46, and this causes on the piston 45 a force actingcontrary to the downwardly acting force, lifting the piston to the upperend position shown in FIG. 7 and thus resulting in retraction of theunit 17a.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in anapparatus for cleaning vessels having an inlet, it is not intended to belimited to the details shown, since various modifications and structuralchanges may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of thepresent invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for vari- 5 a combination comprising a housing havingan outlet and being mountable on a vessel so that the outletcommunicates with the inlet of the vessel;

at least one cleaning device in said housing;

first means mounting said cleaning device for movement from said housingand through said outlet into the vessel to be cleaned;

and second means for closing said outlet.

2. A combinationas defined in claim 1;

and further comprising at least one access opening in said housinginwardly of said second means, and a removable cover for said accessopening.

3. A combination as defined in claim 1;

and further comprising a tubular portion extending through said housingcommunicating with the interior for access thereto and having two accessopenings, and removable covers for said access openings.

4. A combination as defined in claim 1,

said first means comprising a reel turnably mounted in said housing, anda hose mounted on said reel for take-up and pay-ofi; and wherein saidcleaning device is mounted on said hose.

5. A combination as defined in claim 4,

said housing including a first housing portion accommodating said reel,and a tubular second housing portion extending from said first housingportion and having remote from the same said outlet.

6. A combination as defined in claim 5, wherein the vessel includes aheat-exchanger located above it;

said housing being arranged above the heatexchanger and including atubular extension for said tubular housing portion, extending the samepast the heat-exchanger to the inlet of the vessel.

7. A combination as defined in claim 4, wherein said cleaning device isa hydro-dynamic cleaning device.

8. combination as defined in claim 1, said cleaning device being ahydro-dynamic cleaning device;

and wherein said first means comprises a hydraulic cylinder-and-pistonunit for effecting movement of said cleaning device into and out of thevessel. 9. A combination as defined in claim l; and furthercomprising awork platform on said housing in the region of said'second means.

1. In an apparatus for cleaning vessels having an inlet, a combinationcomprising a housing having an outlet and being mountable on a vessel sothat the outlet communicates with the inlet of the vessel; at least onecleaning device in said housing; first means mounting said cleaningdevice for movement from said housing and through said outlet into thevessel to be cleaned; and second means for closing said outlet.
 2. Acombination as defined in claim 1; and further comprising at least oneaccess opening in said housing inwardly of said second means, and aremovable cover for said access opening.
 3. A combination as defined inclaim 1; and further comprising a tubular portion extending through saidhousing communicating with the interior for access thereto and havingtwo access Openings, and removable covers for said access openings.
 4. Acombination as defined in claim 1, said first means comprising a reelturnably mounted in said housing, and a hose mounted on said reel fortake-up and pay-off; and wherein said cleaning device is mounted on saidhose.
 5. A combination as defined in claim 4, said housing including afirst housing portion accommodating said reel, and a tubular secondhousing portion extending from said first housing portion and havingremote from the same said outlet.
 6. A combination as defined in claim5, wherein the vessel includes a heat-exchanger located above it; saidhousing being arranged above the heat-exchanger and including a tubularextension for said tubular housing portion, extending the same past theheat-exchanger to the inlet of the vessel.
 7. A combination as definedin claim 4, wherein said cleaning device is a hydro-dynamic cleaningdevice.
 8. A combination as defined in claim 1, said cleaning devicebeing a hydro-dynamic cleaning device; and wherein said first meanscomprises a hydraulic cylinder-and-piston unit for effecting movement ofsaid cleaning device into and out of the vessel.
 9. A combination asdefined in claim 1; and further comprising a work platform on saidhousing in the region of said second means.